The Ferryman & the Flame by Rhiannon Paille

Krishani always knew he would have to go to the Lands of Men, but he never thought it would be like this. Enemies everywhere, an ancestor he can’t respect, elders he can’t trust, a curse he can’t stop and friends he can’t help but hate. Desperate to end the pain, he sets out on a quest to find the other Flames and face the enemy that took everything from him.

Justice (The Ferryman and the Flame #2) by Rhiannon Paille
Publication Date: January 22, 2013

The story continues in the second novel of author Rhiannon Paille’s Ferryman & the Flame series. I was a huge fan of the first novel Surrender. After finishing the novel, I was left with a huge cliff-hanger that left me anticipating the sequel. For those of us who have read the first novel in the fantasy series, you know that (and if you haven’t read the first novel, you probably should since there will be spoilers up ahead) Kaliel was killed near the end of the first novel during the big battle scene– which meant that obviously something serious was gonna go down when we see how the cast of characters adjusts to everybody’s favorite Flame being dead. I’ll admit that I’m shocked with how everything went down in Justice and when I say shocked, I mean it in a good way.

Justice takes place literally right after everything that happened in Surrender. Kaliel is dead. The Valtanyana just finished kick everybody’s butt and Krishani faces that his fate as the Ferryman is inevitable and that the love of his life is gone. Angry at the world, Krishani ends up in the Lands of Men where he is supposed to learn from his elder on how to be the Ferryman, but it doesn’t take long for him to take up a mission of his own. With hopes of destroying the Valtanyana that took Kaliel from him, Krishani embarks on a personal quest to find the rest of the Flames. All the while, his body and mind are becoming corrupt. Krishani begins to despise everything around him as well as the group of friends that are trying to help him on his insane quest to destroy the enemy and Crestaos who took Kaliel from him.

The first thing that I really noticed about Justice was that an entirely different tone is set from the last novel which was all about what you would do for the people you love and revolved around the forbidden romance between Kaliel and Krishani. Justice is all about how angry at the world Krishani becomes, all the happiness that we had in the last novel completely vanishes in exchange for a world where dark creatures like the Vultures exist, Krishani becomes death and where murder becomes a more common occurrence. Despite how morose that all sounds, I loved it. I loved how unpredictable the plot became and how many jaw dropping moments occurred throughout the plot. In Paille’s Justice everything becomes thrilling, dangerous and gritty.

What made Justice really interesting was that the entire series is supposed to be an all-around romance and with most novels in a series like that, it usually means that there is always constant romantic interactions happening between the two characters and the big thing with Justice is that the romantic counterpart is gone. I personally found that I preferred the separation between the characters because it helped with character building, Krishani isn’t the same character he was before, everybody around him isn’t the same character and it just builds up how badly he wants to be with her. With all the flashbacks of being with Kaliel just making the new badass Krishani seem a little bit vulnerable was enough to remind me of the romance in the series.

I noticed that I was really excited nearer to the end of the novel because there’s the promise of Krishani and Crestaos facing off against each other for the last time. With one of the two having nothing left to lose, I was really excited to see how things would end especially since Surrender proved that main characters can die off without warning. The addition of all the Flames being found was really interesting and near the end of the novel, I was surprised with what happened to the new character Aulises, a thief’s daughter and a girl who looks a lot like Kaliel. The ending of Justice has me looking forward to whatever journey the Ferryman and the Flame encounter next.

I’d recommend the series to fans of fantasy, readers who are interested in mythology and fans of YA romances.

Rhi was never a normal girl. Her life was an urban fantasy wrapped in a paranormal romance and served with a side of horror. To escape her everyday weirdness she began writing fantasy. She studied at U of Sedona and MIMT, obtaining a PhD in Metaphysical Science and Parapsychology. She’s married to a chef/comic book shop owner and she has a fondness for architecture. She frequents twitter and facebook, but if you really want to get to know her you should visit her site: www.yafantasyauthor.com

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5 Comments

Morning Gabby! Just have to say I LOVE this review. You hit on so many things that I was basically trying to convey with Justice and proved to me that yes, this is exactly how the book had to be. I’m pretty eager to get some copies of Vulture later this year. Hopefully you’ll have them in your hot little hands before October!Rhiannon Paille recently posted..My BIG news . . .